


This Will Be Trouble

by CherieoftheDragons (SignCherie)



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: 707 | Luciel Choi's Real Name, 707 | Luciel Choi's Route, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Pining, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-18 12:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13681644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SignCherie/pseuds/CherieoftheDragons
Summary: Seven had always known that he’d never have a girlfriend. Never fall in love. That kind of intimacy would never be a part of his world.Then she came, and she changed everything.----------707's perspective on his route.





	1. And so it begins

Saeyoung had always known that he’d never have a girlfriend. Never fall in love. That kind of intimacy would never be a part of his world.

When he was younger, he had Saeran, and nothing else mattered. Saeran was his twin, the other half of himself. There was no room to think about anything in his future but escaping with his brother and becoming safe.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Saeran was gone, ripped from his life, tearing a hole in his soul that could never be healed. Luciel was a secret agent, and any life he might have had for himself was over. Nothing would ever belong to him again.

It was normal, then, to crave a relationship, to yearn to for companionship to ease his loneliness. He was in college, and suddenly dating loomed before him as a real possibility. And yet, at the same time, it was further away than ever. He understood clearly that he was not allowed anything lasting, that love in his new life was beyond dangerous. A fling might be possible, but what use was that? He was smart enough to know that in his solitude, he would fall in love all too easily. 

And so he kept to himself. Didn’t talk to anyone if he could help it. Didn’t look at the girls in his classes. They were untouchable, forbidden. If he let his thoughts linger on them, let them into his head (or God forbid, his heart) it would only cause him pain. So he forced all romantic desires down deep into himself. Longing for love was a waste. Pointless. Best to forget.

Once or twice, a girl would approach him. It was startling, and the emotions he worked to suppress threatened to bubble over. But despite the temptation, he held onto his resolve. He would look into the girl’s eyes, ignore his racing heart, and excuse himself politely.

Since romance was forbidden, his lonely ruminations led him down other avenues. Worse avenues. Thoughts of Saeran tormented his lonely hours. He agonized over his brother, questions plaguing every quiet moment. Where was Saeran now? Was he safe? What was he doing? He might be at a private boarding school, or perhaps loving parents had adopted him...  

Luciel might be miserable, but if leaving had given his brother happiness, then it was the best thing he’d ever done. Saeran was content. He had to be, because V had promised. That knowledge was the only balm to his soul.

And so time went on. Luciel became 707, joined the RFA, and learned to wear a bright and fun mask. But on the inside, he was never anything but lonely.

 

Then she came, and she changed everything.

* * *

 

The chat room was full. It hadn’t been full for a long time, and until right now, Seven hadn’t realized how much he missed it.

He leaned back in his chair, thoroughly amused by Zen’s cries of “nepotism” and Jumin’s blunt denials. There had to be a way to mess with someone in all this. Hmm. He scrolled up the chat, looking for something in the conversation to latch onto--

And froze. Blinked. Looked again.

**\-----Cerise has entered the chatroom-----**

A stranger -- in the app. No, it couldn’t be.

But it was.

_ Wait! _ he typed.

_ Yoosung: Why? _

_ ZEN: ? ? _

Quickly, he punched in the letters.  _ Think someone entered the chat room;; _

Immediately he rolled his seat towards the computer and plugged in his phone, fingers flying over the keyboard. In less than a minute, he had traced the intruder’s cell, and a name popped up on his screen.

Cerise Lane.

At that moment, the intruder posted a reply.

_ Cerise: Hello _

She was talking. So this was definitely a person and not a virus of some type. No, not necessarily. With a generic response like that, they could be dealing with a bot. Better check the IP, find out where she—

She—

No. 

No, impossible.

Seven snatched up his phone.  _ Just found something out. This is weird. _

_ ZEN: What is it. Hurry and tell me.  _

_ 707: I traced the IP… _

_ 707: It's from Rika’s apartment. _

As expected, the chatroom blew up.

Seven followed the conversation, chiming in when necessary, as he continued to hack. A few more easy searches, and the facts were uncovered one by one. Cerise was twenty-five, only three years older than himself. Young to be such a talented hacker, but then, his existence was proof that age was no indicator of skill. Her job — no, she didn’t have a job. She was an American exchange student getting her master’s degree in… a few more clicks of the mouse… fine arts, huh. With a specialization in illustration. A professional level hacker in art school? Stranger things could happen, but…

His phone pinged with another reply.  _ I am Cerise. Who are you all and what is this place? _

That didn’t sound like a bot. So they were dealing with an illustrator-slash-hacker after all? No, his gut told him that something else was going on. And his gut was usually right.

_ 707: Lol so awkward. _

_ 707: I thought it was a computer talking. _

After a short debate in the chatroom, Zen was telling the stranger all about himself. Ha, of course he was. Seven pulled up Cerise Lane’s driver’s license picture.

Wow. She was cute.

The woman in the photo smiled out at him, her eyes slightly mischievous. Her long hair was pulled back in a gently curled style reminiscent of the 1950s. Winged eyeliner framed large eyes, and red lipstick accentuated the curve of her lips.

_ Really _ cute. Hyper-cute.

Well. It didn’t matter how pretty she was. No, that wasn’t why he found it hard to tear his eyes away. Actually, it  _ wasn’t _ hard to look away. He could do it at any time.

Without really thinking about it, he picked up his phone and introduced himself to Cerise as well.

* * *

 

About fifteen minutes after the chat ended, Seven’s phone rang.

“Hello!” A bubbly voice floated out of the receiver. “How are you, Seven?”

As if they were old friends.

“Cerise? Gahhh! I was supposed to call you first! You figured out the phone function too fast!”

“It’s because of you.” Her tone was light, teasing. “You made the app too easy to understand. If only you weren’t so gifted!”

He was floored.

“Ohhh.” He spoke in a breathy voice. “You saw that right away? But why did you call me so fast? Do you need something? Seven Zero Seven is here to help!”

“Amazing! How did you know I had a question? But first, I wanted to say hello to you, and to thank you for vouching for me in the chatroom.” She chuckled and went on in a mischievous voice. “You didn’t turn up anything scary in your background check? I must have hidden my evil secrets well.”

She didn’t have any evil secrets. Seven was still digging, but what he’d already seen had convinced him of that much. Still, a pang went through him that she could joke so easily about it. He himself made jokes like that — but his jokes weren’t so carefree. 

Because he wasn’t really joking.

He shook off his thoughts and turned his attention back to the conversation. “Danger, danger! A woman with secrets! Not to worry, God Seven will find them. I won’t rest until the mystery is uncovered.”

She laughed, and her laughter tinkled like bells. “You can look up anything you want about me. But if it’s secrets you’re after, you’ll be searching for a long time. I’m not as interesting as I pretend to be.”

Seven couldn’t agree with that. As far as he was concerned, she was fascinating.

“But I did actually have a question. Can I change my profile picture in this app? I don’t know why I have this generic girl avatar, but I’d like something more interesting.”

He couldn’t blame her. Such a boring icon didn’t represent her at all. And yet, he was disappointed that she might share a selfie and the rest of the RFA would see her face. He found he rather liked being the only one who knew how pretty she was.

No. It wasn’t because she was pretty. Seven just liked keeping secrets and leaving the others in suspense. He wanted to mess with his friends. That was all.

She  _ was _ cute, though.

“Hmm, let me change the permissions for you.” He hesitated. “Will you put up a picture of your real face?”

She hummed as if considering. “I was thinking about it. But now that I talk to you—” She giggled. “Wouldn’t it be fun to keep it between us? Leave the others guessing and see what they think?”

He was flabbergasted. “Oh! You really are a hacker. You hacked into my brain and saw what I was thinking!”

“Downloading brainwaves now…”

It was just a joke, but it made him a little nervous. “No, don’t poke around in there! You won’t like what you find.”

Another tinkling laugh. “As much as I’d love to hack your brain, this time it’s just a case of great minds thinking alike.”

“Ohhhh. We have so much in common. We both have great minds!”

Seven couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so comfortable talking with someone, and he was sure he’d never connected to a stranger this easily. He finished setting up her permissions in the app and activated the changes.

“You should be able to switch your profile pic now. God Seven saves the day!”

“All my thanks to God Seven! I’ll go set that up then. This was… nice. I can’t wait to talk with you more.”

Saying goodbye to her was a little sad, but he had a lot of work to do, so it was for the best. “Yup yup! We’ll see just how much we share a brain.”

 

A few minutes later, Seven checked the app. Cerise had changed her profile picture to a cat playing a violin.

She just might be the most perfect woman in the world.

 


	2. Days 1-4

For the safety of the RFA, V wanted Luciel to find out everything he could about Cerise. Luciel wanted that, too, for the same reasons — and also very different ones.

She’d said she was an open book, and that intrigued him. Very few people were truly honest. Just how straightforward would she be, he wondered, if he asked her his questions directly?

That evening, he called her to find out just that.

“Seven!” She sounded genuinely delighted to hear his voice, which caught him off guard. “It’s you!”

“And it’s you! You picked up right away.”

“I saw your name on the caller ID. It’s past dinner time. Did you eat?”

She cared about his eating habits? “Of course I did. I have my precious Honey Buddha Chips! So delicious… and washed down with Ph.D Pepper…”

“You have Honey Buddha Chips? I’m jealous! But —” her voice turned concerned “—  that’s not all you ate, right?”

What? He tried not to get flustered. It was just — nobody ever worried about his health. True, Jaehee made disapproving comments about his lifestyle, but that was it. He’d only met Cerise today, and she was already concerned?

He pushed down the awkward feelings that tried to surface. It didn’t mean anything; she barely knew him. She was only being polite.

“Are you disparaging my Honey Buddha chips?” He put as much mock horror into his voice as he could. “Not to worry! My body is powered on caffeine and sugar! I’m fine if I have my Ph.D Pepper!”

“Seven—” There was definitely worry in her tone now, even in that one word, so Seven cut her off as quickly as he could.

“But don’t be like me. You need to eat three healthy meals every day, okay? Did you eat dinner?”

“Not yet. I was going to order takeout, actually, but I could cook something instead. I will if you’ll come over and eat with me. You already know where the apartment is, so it’s fine, right?”

“Ah, what?” He’d known her less than a day, but he was beginning to realize that she was very good at catching him off guard. “Aren’t you nervous to invite a man you’ve never met to your house? What if I’m dangerous?”

He _was_ dangerous, of course, but not for the reasons he was implying.

“If you’re dangerous, it won’t matter if I invite you, will it? You already know where I am and how to get in.”

That was... very true. Even worse, he could kill her without ever setting foot anywhere near her, just by activating the b— er, the special security system.

The thought brought on a wave of guilt. She wasn’t safe where she was, not with that system in place. He should tell her to get out of there. She’d be better off going home and never thinking about the RFA again.

But if they didn’t hold parties again, if they didn’t have a purpose, the RFA would fall apart. It was already falling apart. Cerise was the key to holding everything together.

No, she would be fine. The apartment was safe. He’d set up that bomb with the strongest protections imaginable. Nothing was going to happen.

“So come over,” she went on. “It’s lonely here. What do you want me to cook? I went shopping earlier, so there’s lots in the fridge.”

“I — oh. I can’t. I have to work.” Seven coughed to hide the sudden nervousness he couldn’t keep out of his voice. “I’m basically a slave to the agency. Oh! The boss is calling right now!” Hopefully she couldn’t hear the lie in his words. “I have to go. But make sure you eat healthy, okay? Talk to you later!”

Before she could reply, he jabbed his finger at the phone, cutting off the call.

Well. That hadn’t gone as planned at all.

* * *

 

The next morning, he tried again. This time, she didn’t pick up until the fourth ring.

“Hello, Seven!”

“Cerise! Good morning,” he sing-songed. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I’m working on an illustration for school. What are you doing?”

She had a tendency to turn their conversation back to him, which he found a little unnerving. “Working like a hacking slave.” With a dramatic sigh, he grasped for a change of topic. “An illustration for school? So you’re a student.” He knew this already, but she’d volunteered the information without asking, and that answered some his curiosity about her honesty.

“Don’t you already know?”

“Of course I do. But I’m still trying to dig out those secrets of yours. You don’t think I’m going to forget, do you? Seven Zero Seven has a mind like a steel trap. You won’t get anything past me.”

At her pretty laugh, his heart jumped. “Ask me what you want to know, then. I’ll tell you and save time.”

Her direct attitude impressed him. “Okay.” Where to start? He’d done only a little research on her, hoping to hear her story from her own lips first. “Where were you born?”

“In the United States. I’m an exchange student.” She named the small town he’d already discovered. “I grew up there with my dad and sister.”

No mother. Seven wanted to ask about it, but he also didn’t want to pry. Of course, he’d just be looking it up later, and she knew that, but she might not want to talk about it, and he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. So instead he said, “You have a sister.”

“Charlotte. She’s two years younger than me. I looked after her a lot when we were kids.” She exhaled. “You want to ask about my mom, right? I don’t mind talking about it; it’s not a secret. My mom left when I was six, so I don’t remember her much. My dad raised us, but he didn’t have a lot of outside support. Which meant I took care of my sister.”

Oh. He hadn’t been prepared for that.

Saeyoung knew what it was to be responsible for a sibling. Automatically, Saeran’s innocent face filled his mind. He saw the awe in his brother’s eyes the few times he’d been outside — remembered the sound of his sobs as their mother—

When a sibling needed you, that need filled your life. Cerise had grown up with that responsibility, shared that experience. Seven’s emotions threatened to burst through his carefully constructed dam. The pain of his childhood was suddenly joined by sorrow for Cerise. She should not have had to deal with that. She was too good for that struggle.

No. Luciel took a deep breath. He needed to get ahold of himself. He was projecting his own life onto her now; her experiences had not been like his. Her sister — Charlotte — had not been tied up and beaten. Cerise hadn’t needed to sneak food to her, or secretly bandage her wounds. And thank god for that. Whatever she’d gone through sounded hard enough. She should never have to suffer what he had, not someone like her.

“Seven? Are you still there?”

Her words snapped him out of his stupor. “I’m here. I was just listening.”

“What else can I tell you?”

Seven was rapidly losing his grasp on his emotions. At this rate, he’d be crying into the phone in a minute or two. He needed to end this call, and he needed to end it now. “Oh! I see a problem with the code I’m working on. I’ll call you back later, okay?”

“Okay! I look forward to it!”

Her voice was so bright. As Seven hung up the phone, he couldn’t help a pang of regret that he couldn’t listen to it longer.

* * *

 

A few hours and exhaustive background check later, everything Cerise said proved to be true. His instincts were correct. She was trustworthy.

* * *

 

Later that day, Cerise sent him a text that took him by surprise. _Seven! How do I send you a picture?_

Because of their agreement to keep her appearance a secret, he hadn’t set up that permission. _You want to share selfies?_

_Just with you._

That shouldn’t make his heart flutter.

WIth a few simple changes, he set up access for her. Immediately, she texted an image. She was in the lobby of Rika’s apartment building, beaming and holding up an orange tabby cat that looked like it wanted nothing more than to escape.

 _It’s the neighbor’s kitty. She let me hold him_.

A grin spread over his face. He’d never seen a picture of Cerise smiling with such joy, and it made his heart feel light. But he couldn’t say that, so he instead he typed, _Oooh, don’t you just want to squeeze it!_

_Of course! Who wouldn’t?_

He couldn’t stop looking at her picture, the pure joy that lit up her face drawing him in. Yes, she really was the perfect woman.

Er… perfect for someone else, of course.

* * *

 

After that, she sent him pictures a few times a day. A picture of the dinner she was proud to have successfully cooked, several progress snapshots of the illustration she was working on, and his favorite, a photo of herself in front of the window, a beautiful sunset in the background.

He wanted to make it his phone background. But no, no, no, that was the worst idea ever. He couldn’t leave traces of her on his phone. It was one thing to look at them in the messenger — that was buried under layers of security. To have someone he knew so obviously displayed would put her in danger. He could never allow that to happen.

It was stupid to wish for such mundane things. Friendships, relationships, these things didn’t belong in his life, and he knew it. As an agent, he’d learned a long time ago that hoping for such luxuries was pointless and could only lead to pain.

Hadn’t he?

Without thinking, Seven picked up his phone and pulled up the picture again, gazing at it for reasons that he didn’t understand.

* * *

 

She called him several times a day, and every time he saw her name on the screen, his heart jumped. He turned the volume on his ringer all the way up so he’d be sure not to miss her calls. That was stupid. Normally, he’d have the ringer off entirely when he needed to work. Now he was interrupted repeatedly, and when she hadn’t called for a while, he got antsy to the point that he started calling her, too.

It was nothing. The RFA had a new member, so curiosity was only natural. That was all it was.

* * *

 

Four days after Cerise joined the RFA, a warning popped up on his computer screen, and everything changed — again.

Seven wasn’t a person who panicked. Life and death dangers were commonplace in his world, so when he realized the RFA server had been hacked for the second time within a week, his mind immediately went into planning mode. The members would need to protect themselves — well, that was fine. If asked, Jumin would be more than willing to send bodyguards to each of their homes. Of course, Seven’s bunker was already locked up in the tightest security possible, and—

Oh.

Oh, no.

Cerise was unprotected. Her location was a secret, which meant that sending security guards was out of the question. Nobody could know where Rika’s apartment was.

 _Now_ he started to panic.


	3. Day 5

He couldn’t get ahold of V. No matter how many times he called and texted and called again, there was nothing. No sign that V saw any of it. No sign that he even existed.

More than anything, Seven wanted to run straight to Cerise’s side, to protect her with his own body. He wanted to be able to see for himself that she was safe and sound and whole. 

It would be fine, he told himself. He just needed to work. Once he tracked down that hacker, she’d be completely safe. Nothing to worry about.

* * *

 

His mind was an absolute wreck. 

Work loomed before him, and he couldn't do any of it. His brain refused to focus. Every time he started typing code, her voice would play through his mind like a song, lilting and beautiful. He found himself analyzing the little things she’d said, searching for hidden meaning in her words. Then the worry would surface, and he’d have to stop his agency work to check the RFA server again, and since he was doing that, he might as well take some time to follow the traces the hacker had left, but what was Cerise doing now? He hadn’t checked the CCTV in a few minutes — well, of course she was fine, nothing would happen in that time, but maybe he’d just take a look at the monitors anyway, and oh! There she was in the hallway, and what was she doing? She was stopping to look at the camera, and that coy smile, it was meant for him, wasn’t it?

Vanderwood’s angry voice would snap him out of it. He’d hurry back to his agency work, only for the whole cycle to start all over again.

Eventually it would get to be too much, and he’d have to call her, because if he heard her voice he would know that she was fine, and that would get the worry out of his system, right? If only it really worked like that. Hearing her voice started his heart thumping again, and when he hung up, he only missed her all the more.

His surveillance over the CCTV would have to be enough to protect her. It had to be, because it was all he could do. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could send her something else? If only she had some kind of robot to spit fire at intruders. Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Before he knew it, he was holding a hastily-but-perfectly constructed robot dog and wondering where the last hour of his life had gone.

* * *

 

At a quarter past three that afternoon (3:13 to be exact, not that he was paying attention), Cerise texted him.  _ I can’t focus on anything today. _

So she had the same affliction he did. Had she caught it from him like some kind of mental virus? Oh — no, with everything going on, she had more than enough reasons of her own to be distracted. Hesitantly, he typed,  _ Is it... because you’re afraid?  _

_ No. Rather than afraid, I’d say I’m… hmm. Excited. _

A moment later, she added,  _ It’s nothing to do with the hacker, so don’t worry. I trust you. _

Relief filled him, and something else that made his head feel light. She trusted him. Yes. She was counting on him. He couldn’t let her down.

Another text from Cerise popped up.  _ But I’m all over the place. I can’t keep my mind on my anything. Look what I did instead of my schoolwork — _

An image came through, a pencil sketch of the two of them in spacesuits, floating in front of a cartoon space station. They were posed as if taking a selfie, Seven’s hand held up in a peace sign. Beside him, cartoon Cerise was grinning in mischief and giving Seven bunny ears.

Even as a cartoon, she was perfect.

_ Do you want it? _ she sent.  _ If you come here, I’ll give it to you. _

Yes. God, yes, he wanted it. He wanted to put it up next to his computer screens so he could look at it as he worked. But he couldn’t — physical evidence of her in his home — the very thought of what could happen to her made him shudder.

_ Gahhh! I want to come! But I can’t leave here… When this is all done, we’ll go to the space station for real! _

Seven could practically see her smile in her response.  _ I’ll get my veil ready. _

His heart threatened to pound out of his chest. Was she — did she really like him? She kidded around like this, but was it real? He ought to stop the joke now, but just as always, he couldn’t bring himself to type the words that would end it. He’d never felt this way before, not for anyone, not ever. And he was pretty sure no one had felt this way about him, either.

_ If you don’t have a veil, _ he replied, _ you can borrow one from me. ^^ _

_ Seven! You really are the master of cosplay! I’ll borrow the veil, but I’m picking out my own dress, k? _

The image of Cerise in a wedding gown filled his imagination, making him a little dizzy. She’d look beautiful like that. What would it be like to have someone so special pledge herself to him? If he had her by his side, every day of his life would be heaven.

God. No. This was bad. He wasn’t allowed to have these thoughts. He would work hard and die young, and he would be alone. That was all he needed.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he typed again.  _ Okie! I’ll pick out my own dress, too! _

* * *

 

Later that night, she sent another picture, this one in full color. He and Cerise were inside the space station wearing wedding dresses, a round window behind them displaying a backdrop of twinkling stars.

Such a silly picture shouldn’t make him feel so happy — or so sad. But his heart filled with joy and sorrow all the same.

* * *

 

He wanted her. Despite all his efforts to hold onto his heart, he couldn’t deny that he was falling into the abyss. He wanted Cerise with everything he had, and no amount of reason or self-reproach could change how he felt.

_ Stop it, Luciel, _ he told himself.  _ You don’t deserve a woman like her. You’re an agent, and your life is dangerous. You’ll work and work until you’ve worked yourself to death, and when there’s nothing left of you, someone else will replace you. Thinking about her is selfish and cruel. How can you wish this horrible life on her? Only a monster would place her in that kind of danger. _

_ Take your thoughts away from her. She’s too good for you. Let her have someone who can make her happy. That’s what she deserves. _

It really was that simple. His life was no life. There could never be any trace of him left in this world. He would simply disappear one day, and no one would remember. That was his reality. 

He’d accepted all this long ago, had come to terms with the inevitable emptiness. Why was he obsessing over it now? Why did it suddenly hurt so much?

Around midnight, Seven signed into the messenger and quickly realized it was a mistake. Everything was piling up on him, crushing him, assaulting him on all sides. The hacker, Cerise’s safety, the agency work, Vanderwood, his stupid rebellious feelings… it felt like the weight of it all would kill him. But Cerise was there in the messenger, and somehow he just couldn’t leave. He needed her presence, and so he found himself saying too much, going too far, his cheerful mask cracking and peeling away like a veneer of old paint.

When he had logged off, he stared at his phone, appalled at what he had just revealed.

_ Oh my God. This will be trouble _ .


	4. Day 6

His outburst in the chatroom the night before had definitely been a mistake, one he dearly wished he could take back. His fr— the other RFA members had started worrying about him. They weren’t supposed to take him seriously. Hadn’t he shown well enough over the years that everything he said was a joke?

He did his best to brush it off, to put on a show of being bright and happy. Surely the RFA would roll their eyes at him and forget what he’d said, just as they’d forgotten all the “jokes” he’d made before. When Jumin called Yoosung’s mother and drama began to unfold in the chatrooms, Seven hid behind the commotion of it all and let everyone’s attention be redirected.

Cerise called him that morning. As soon as he picked up, before he could get out a “hello”, she said in a surprisingly seductive voice, “Do you drink milk?”

Seven blinked in surprise, both at her tone and at the randomness of her question. “Why drink milk when I have my Ph.D Pepper?”

“No.” She sighed dramatically. “I wasn’t finished. Let me start again.”

All right, he’d play along. “Sorry. Go ahead, God Cerise. My lips are zipped.”

“Good.” She cleared her voice and started again with the same over-the-top seductiveness. “Do you drink milk? Because it sure did your body  _ good _ .”

That— 

She—

—  _ what? _

Cerise burst into laughter.

Seven didn’t know what to react to first. Obviously it was a horrible joke, but — was she  _ flirting _ with him? “Gahhh! What are you saying to me? You’re not poking fun, are you?” With his luck, that was exactly what she was doing. “I don’t know what to do when you say things like that!”

Cerise only laughed harder, which did nothing to soothe his ego. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just went to the convenience store, and the guy at the counter told me that. I couldn’t help but share.”

Suddenly the joke spun in a completely different direction, and Seven’s hackles went up. “What?!”

“Isn’t it terrible?”

“Some man said that to you?”  _ Seven, there’s no reason to be angry.  _ “You need to be careful of men like that! They shouldn’t be having those kinds of ideas about someone they’ve just met!”

“Oh! Are you going to come defend me?”

He wished he could. He couldn’t leave his station... but it shouldn’t be too hard to access the cameras in that convenience store, find out who that cashier was…

What was he thinking? He was going to track down someone just for flirting with Cerise? A hacker was after the RFA, putting her life in danger, and he was worried about some cashier who thought she was cute. The idea was ridiculous.

Still… Seven didn’t want someone else to think she was cute. He wanted to be the only one who recognized how truly special she was.

Cerise laughed again. “I’m kidding. You don’t have to defend me. I would have forgotten about it already, except that when I heard that line, my first thought was… that I wanted to say it to you.” She coughed. “I mean, it’s funny, right? But also kind of cute. And you’re funny and kind of cute, so I thought… um…”

Seven’s face got hot. She  _ was _ flirting with him. She thought he was cute! Oh, this was — this was bad. It was so bad.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy.

“Is your name Google?” he said. “Because you’re the answer to everything I’m looking for.”

She burst out in uncontrolled laughter, and it was contagious. Seven started giggling, too, feeling like his chest was full of helium. When the laughter finally died down, Cerise sighed happily. “That was good. But I don’t think I want to be your Google.”

His heart stopped. “Oh?” he croaked.

“Well, what use is Google to a hacker god? You have much better tools at your disposal. If I was only Google, I’d feel kind of useless.”

“Whaaa? Useless?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to be useless to you. I... Seven, I want to... be someone you can depend on.” She hesitated, then spoke quietly. “How are you feeling today?”

Suddenly his pulse was pounding in his veins. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

“I... don’t know exactly. But what you said last night… I’d like to believe you were joking. I want you to be happy. But it didn’t feel like a joke.”

She saw right through him. He should have known she would. No matter how hard he tried to put on a lighthearted demeanor, no matter how well he fooled the others, he couldn’t hide from her. “I told you! I was just feeling sentimental, and I got a little silly. I’m fine!”

“I hope that’s the case. But if it’s not… well, I want to help. I don’t want to stand by while you suffer.”

“Aah! I’m not suffering! But if you want to help, stay indoors and don’t go out until I catch this hacker. Can you do that? And don’t talk to any strange men. Well —” a pang hit his chest “— that’s none of my business. But be as safe as you can, okay?”

“I promise.” She sounded more serious than she ever had before. “Seven… I want you to know…”

She drew in a breath, and he came to his senses. What was he doing? He’d let this go way too far. He never should have let anything like this start. Panicked, he groped for an excuse to escape. “Ack! This hacker isn’t going to catch himself! Sorry, I have to go!”

“Oh… okay. Please take care of yourself, Seven. Make sure you eat something.”

“Yup, yup!” he agreed without thinking. “Talk to you later! Bye!”

He disconnected before either of them could say any more. God, what was he thinking? What had he done? He couldn’t express these kinds of things to her, not even as a joke. Every time he spoke, she saw straight through his words, and all his barriers came crumbling down, leaving him completely exposed. It had to stop. There was nothing inside him that anyone should see.

When it came to her, he was out of control. And the absolute worst thing of all… was that he liked it. He wanted more. For the first time in his life, someone understood him. 

He didn’t want to let that go.

* * *

 

Seven couldn’t stop calling her, couldn’t stop texting her, couldn’t stop taking her calls. He had even more work now than ever, what with the threatening emails the other members had received, but his situation hadn’t improved at all. If anything, it was getting worse. By the end of the day, he had a newly-made robot cat and an overwhelming fear for Cerise.

He needed to end this somehow. She needed to understand. So that night, he logged into the messenger and tried to explain. He told her about the danger of the agency, how being close to him could hurt her. All his feelings spilled from him, emotions that he ought to keep in check, emotions that he couldn’t control when he talked to her.

_ Please… I hope no one gets hurt because I wasn’t good enough... _

_ I’m not a clean and bright person… And since you can be put in danger because of me, we need to keep our distance… _

_ This shithole… is probably the place that suits me best _ .

It didn’t matter what he said. She was steadfast; she wouldn’t budge.  _ I don’t regret getting to know you, Seven! Even if you do dangerous things! _

_ Cerise… Thank you, but those words will have heavy consequences, so please be careful of what you say. Please don’t think I’m such a good person. _

No matter what he did, her loyalty and compassion were unshakable. When he logged out of the chatroom, a drop of water landed on his phone’s screen. It took him a moment to realize he was crying.

Dammit. What was he going to do?


End file.
